The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services, and the Treasury recently published interim final regulations in the Federal Register that implement the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). These regulations are effective April 5, 2010, and apply to plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2010.
The MHPAEA applies to most employers with more than 50 employees and requires those that offer mental health or substance use disorder benefits to make sure they’re in parity with the medical and surgical benefits they offer. The departments issued the regulations to further clarify the MHPAEA, and the regulations are supposed to update certain defined terms and examples and demonstrate how the expanded rules apply.
The departments are still soliciting comments on the interim final rules, and comments are due on or before May 3, 2010. You can find the interim final regulations at www.dol.gov/federalregister/PdfDisplay.aspx?DocId=23511.